Pretty fair assessment in my book. I like Coach B and think he could be successful here going forward, but we really need to be shown something this year. I try to be optimistic when it comes to the Hogs, until given a reason not to be. While that hasn't happened yet, another 7-6 season and it's going to get harder to keep believing.

The failures of 2016 have many people pointing fingers in all directions. This article is brief and lacks much detail, but at its core, it is absolutely correct. How can a team look like it did against Florida look so bad against A&M, Auburn, LSU and fall apart in the second half against Missouri and Va Tech? The athleticism was there to compete. The same coaches prepare the team each week and the plan is sound. It all comes down to players being on the same page and selling out to the game plan. Last year there were struggles on offense, yet we had a QB and RB at or near the top of the conference. A vast majority of the problems were on the other side of the ball. Look at points given up vs SEC opponents. A&M - 45, Bama - 49, Ole Miss - 30, Auburn - 56, LSU - 38, MSU - 42.That's 43.3 points per game against the west.Add Florida's - 10 and Missouri's - 28 and Arkansas gave up 37.25 points per game to SEC opponents. If you want to know why Rob Smith is at Minnesota, there it is.

I like Paul Rhodes. The players love him. I don't believe they will give up on him. I don't slam players, remember one of them grew up in my house, but there was a lack of "something" last year on the defensive side of the ball. Losing Greenlaw and Richardson was huge. Despite that, I think the players know that last year was unacceptable. I realize that on a message board the optimists are saying they go 9-3 or 10-2. The pessimists are 4-8 or 5-7. No one really has any idea. I know I don't. What I want to see this fall is something go wrong early in the season. Whether it's against FAMU or TCU, something will go wrong. A turnover, special teams score, something. What happens in the five minutes after that play will indicate whether or not the team has matured. Bad things happen, it's part of the game. How they respond will show if the ghosts of the 2016 season are still haunting them. Coach Bielema preaches "you earn everything" and "1-0". The players have to remember that. They played like a 7-6 team at times last season and they were better than that. They earned those 6 loses because of their play. They dwelled on the last game when things went south. They didn't rise to the challenge. That's not "1-0" mentality. That's player leadership. That's not what they've been taught. No matter how many times Coach says it, the team leaders have to reinforce it. Austin and Frank have the offensive side taken care of. It's up to Dre, K-Rich, and Sosa to do the same on defense. It was already happening in the spring. But again, this is all talk. We need to see it in action. That's why August 31st can't get here soon enough.

The failures of 2016 have many people pointing fingers in all directions. This article is brief and lacks much detail, but at its core, it is absolutely correct. How can a team look like it did against Florida look so bad against A&M, Auburn, LSU and fall apart in the second half against Missouri and Va Tech? The athleticism was there to compete. The same coaches prepare the team each week and the plan is sound. It all comes down to players being on the same page and selling out to the game plan. Last year there were struggles on offense, yet we had a QB and RB at or near the top of the conference. A vast majority of the problems were on the other side of the ball. Look at points given up vs SEC opponents. A&M - 45, Bama - 49, Ole Miss - 30, Auburn - 56, LSU - 38, MSU - 42.That's 43.3 points per game against the west.Add Florida's - 10 and Missouri's - 28 and Arkansas gave up 37.25 points per game to SEC opponents. If you want to know why Rob Smith is at Minnesota, there it is.

I like Paul Rhodes. The players love him. I don't believe they will give up on him. I don't slam players, remember one of them grew up in my house, but there was a lack of "something" last year on the defensive side of the ball. Losing Greenlaw and Richardson was huge. Despite that, I think the players know that last year was unacceptable. I realize that on a message board the optimists are saying they go 9-3 or 10-2. The pessimists are 4-8 or 5-7. No one really has any idea. I know I don't. What I want to see this fall is something go wrong early in the season. Whether it's against FAMU or TCU, something will go wrong. A turnover, special teams score, something. What happens in the five minutes after that play will indicate whether or not the team has matured. Bad things happen, it's part of the game. How they respond will show if the ghosts of the 2016 season are still haunting them. Coach Bielema preaches "you earn everything" and "1-0". The players have to remember that. They played like a 7-6 team at times last season and they were better than that. They earned those 6 loses because of their play. They dwelled on the last game when things went south. They didn't rise to the challenge. That's not "1-0" mentality. That's player leadership. That's not what they've been taught. No matter how many times Coach says it, the team leaders have to reinforce it. Austin and Frank have the offensive side taken care of. It's up to Dre, K-Rich, and Sosa to do the same on defense. It was already happening in the spring. But again, this is all talk. We need to see it in action. That's why August 31st can't get here soon enough.

Brooks Ellis admitted that there were guys on defense last year that didn't buy in to what the coaches were trying to do

And he was likely one of thm considering the positions the scheme put him in where he wasn't likely to succeed from the get go.

That's speculative. We don't know that. My guess is that it wasn't as much of a case that they (as a group) didn't outright "not buy in" as much as they may have become discouraged and perhaps developed a lack of confidence in the scheme and its architect over time. Let's face it, if you feel that you are faced with what you feel is a near impossible task as a result of a bad plan AND you don't feel that your input is welcome, people have a tendency to just go through the motions.

We saw lots of holes in the defense at times LY that opposing OC's knew that they could create based on our schemed reactions to certain sets. The results of that produced the most big plays that we have given up in years and that does nothing but take the competitive wind out of a defense, especially when they feel that there isn't an answer to the problem. And once that negative mind set is established, it doesn't take much take the competitive spirit out of your heart.

I think that is why we saw times that we felt that the team (and the defense in particular) just gave up LY. And it is an infectious disease that can spread to an offense as well, especially when they don't feel that they have a defense that has their back. But that's JMO.

CFN is always spot on.I agree with their write-ups and assessments 98% of the time, this being no exception.

This is my commentary now. The reason for the inexplicable stuff that happened last year is that CBB is just not a great coach. He's pretty good, actually, but just not great. A well-coached team doesn't have the wild swings and what-the-? blown leads like Arkansas had versus Mizzou and Va Tech. That's coaching. Same thing happened in Year 1, losing a 24-7 lead to Rutgers. Or losing big leads to Texas A&M two years in a row in 2014 and 2015. CBB is a great CEO guy, but he's not a details guy, and his teams don't handle all the little things well that go into winning close football games.

I do think this year should be a good year, and this is a fine program, I'm just not holding my breath for this program to do anything great in the near future.

That's speculative. We don't know that. My guess is that it wasn't as much of a case that they (as a group) didn't outright "not buy in" as much as they may have become discouraged and perhaps developed a lack of confidence in the scheme and its architect over time. Let's face it, if you feel that you are faced with what you feel is a near impossible task as a result of a bad plan AND you don't feel that your input is welcome, people have a tendency to just go through the motions.

We saw lots of holes in the defense at times LY that opposing OC's knew that they could create based on our schemed reactions to certain sets. The results of that produced the most big plays that we have given up in years and that does nothing but take the competitive wind out of a defense, especially when they feel that there isn't an answer to the problem. And once that negative mind set is established, it doesn't take much take the competitive spirit out of your heart.

I think that is why we saw times that we felt that the team (and the defense in particular) just gave up LY. And it is an infectious disease that can spread to an offense as well, especially when they don't feel that they have a defense that has their back. But that's JMO.

Yep. My speculation only. Watching himself get burned on film over and over when he shouldn't have ever been asked to cover guys so much faster than him had to be frustrating.

CFN is always spot on.I agree with their write-ups and assessments 98% of the time, this being no exception.

This is my commentary now. The reason for the inexplicable stuff that happened last year is that CBB is just not a great coach. He's pretty good, actually, but just not great. A well-coached team doesn't have the wild swings and what-the-? blown leads like Arkansas had versus Mizzou and Va Tech. That's coaching. Same thing happened in Year 1, losing a 24-7 lead to Rutgers. Or losing big leads to Texas A&M two years in a row in 2014 and 2015. CBB is a great CEO guy, but he's not a details guy, and his teams don't handle all the little things well that go into winning close football games.

I do think this year should be a good year, and this is a fine program, I'm just not holding my breath for this program to do anything great in the near future.

CFN is always spot on.I agree with their write-ups and assessments 98% of the time, this being no exception.

This is my commentary now. The reason for the inexplicable stuff that happened last year is that CBB is just not a great coach. He's pretty good, actually, but just not great. A well-coached team doesn't have the wild swings and what-the-? blown leads like Arkansas had versus Mizzou and Va Tech. That's coaching. Same thing happened in Year 1, losing a 24-7 lead to Rutgers. Or losing big leads to Texas A&M two years in a row in 2014 and 2015. CBB is a great CEO guy, but he's not a details guy, and his teams don't handle all the little things well that go into winning close football games.

I do think this year should be a good year, and this is a fine program, I'm just not holding my breath for this program to do anything great in the near future.

I'll have to disagree. They were wrong in several ways about last year. Just writing it and saying it is so, doesn't always make it accurate or the truth.

They were quality in the late 90s early 2000s. Then they did some deals with Fox Sports, then Scout, and you know how that story goes. Talent leaves, analysis suffers, more recycled thoughts/content, etc. Still enjoy reading it, but you have to endure more high level observations and generalities.